Legends
by Maloncanth
Summary: Epic Pokemon fic in medieval setting. Chapter 4 loaded. It's still a bit short on dialogue but R&R anyway. =)
1. Part I: Challenge

****

Legends

Part I: Challenge

__

By Denning Chow

[maloncanth@hotmail.com][1]

__

~ "Becoming a Legend is not a path chosen by the unworthy. The road is riddled with hardships. A true master must withstand loneliness beyond the what a normal person may sustain and have a colder heart than the ice at the ends of the Earth. The mind must be clear as crystal. The Master and the Pokemon. Nothing else..." - Training records of Khyron, Lone Master of Blackthorne (circa 895 AD) ~

*** Part I: Challenge ***

Rushing up the long dirt path from the Azalea Temple to the Royal Palace in Goldenrod compelled serious amounts of huffing and puffing from the worn out figure in grey, black-lined training robes and his Quilava. The situation was made worse by the cold air and the still questionable health of the young man who had just recovered from the local plague. The cold air lashed at the insides of his lung which pumped desperately to keep up with oxygen requirements. Perhaps after surviving a disease that had claimed four in every five victims, he should not have been pushing his luck quite so far. However, this was a special occassion that deserved the pressed trek through the snow of 

winter. He feared only that he had come late.

Joseph and his Quilava, Scorch arrived huffing and puffing at the outskirts of the palace. Despite the recent vigorous activity, Joseph was already shivering in his robes. Scorch was far better off but could not warm up its exterior flame for fear of detection by the guards just beyond the tall hedge they were now against. With a swift jump, the two got onto the hedge and began a slow crawl atop the tight branches. The hedges were leafless but they were tall, the branches thick and incredibly strong, causing minimal noise as they creeped to the inner parts of the estate. Once there, they made another high jump onto the ceiling tiles of the first building. Leaping from roof to roof was a simple matter until they got to the tallest, largest building, the central keep of the palace. Jumping on Scorch's back, Joseph and his pokemon scaled the weathered granite walls to the tallest story. This area was as lifeless as a crypt at the moment but even a crypt has a few keepers..

Joseph was a young man in his twenties. Long, brown hair, brown eyes and moderately built though he'd lost a few pounds in his recent sickness. His training was exemplary, Scorch was his pokemon of a similar age. The two worked as a team of nearly perfect tandem. He was already well above the average trainer, yet, he was in the presence of those that could make him look like a child.

"Has it begun yet?" He asked, gasping some more from the strenuous race against time.

"They're about to. I knew you'd make it." Migel, his childhood friend replied. Migel was a bit slimmer than Joseph, darker hair and eyes and younger in age. Being the last and least of Azalea Temple's upper rank trainees gave him plenty of sway but being overshadowed by Joseph, Blythe and Colin turned him into someone quieter.

"Well, it seems you made it on time." Blythe said, a large part haughtier and unfriendlier.

"Barely..." Colin commented. 

Blythe and Colin were newer to the temple. They were accepted at a higher level for their talent, not entered as a small child as Joseph and Migel were. As a result, their attitude towards everyone there was not so...friendly. 

---

The situation on the roof of the royal palace was tense. A battle between masters could not take place anywhere where anyone might watch. Only those deserving the sight, and the very fortunate, were allowed to witness. The four elite trainees of Azalea were there since their Master was one of the combatants. Many other powerful pokemon masters of great skill from all over the world were present. The defender was Master Azain from Azalea Temple. His partner was Mind, a powerful Hypno. The two were a legendary team, officially considered one of the strongest in the world. 

The challenger was a figure that had abruptly appeared months ago. By all accounts, he and his Scizor had cut a swath through all who had stood in their way. Khyron, a heretofore unknown master from Blackthorne. His power was incredible and the surprising thing was that this master had somehow trained to a par with the world's greatest without anyone knowing. Two weeks past, he had issued a challenge to Southern Johto. Send their champion to best him. To save their considerable pride, Johto's community of master trainers answered the challenge with a cold note stating place, date and time. In this case, it was noon on the Winter Solstice at the pinnacle of the palace. Azain was elected as the champion. His skill was legendary in the land and his spirit and good will exemplary to all.

The two stood at opposite ends of the roof. This battle would not be known to very many. Not even the king himself who resided within this palace. This battle was too good even for him. The small crowd which did have the privilege of seeing this fight were all pokemon masters. 

The clock struck noon. The two combatants took about three milliseconds to size each other up before starting up. Spreading its butterfly-like wings, the Scizor answered his master's instructions and boosted towards the Hypno at a level flight almost scraping the roof. The wind of its passage tore the tiles off the surface. Mind responded with confusion, forming a blast of psychic energy. Ripples could be seen in the air by the spectators but the Scizor barely slowed down and struck home with its Quick Attack. The psychic shield around the Hypno flared into being. The Psychic pokemon was forced back several inches while the metallic bug was stopped dead from its charge. The Scizor's slash attack ripped the ornament at the end of the roof off as Mind jumped into the air and let loose with psybeam. A hole was torn clear through until the cellar could be seen. Guards within the palace bgan mobilizing but they would be gently held at bay by the onlookers. The nobles would understand that an issue with the various training houses were not theirs to care about.

The two combatants stood still once more. Scizor had backed up after dodging the beam, Hypno was back on the ground, ready for another attack. This time, Hpyno made the first move with a devestating Psychic. The blast tore through the air, flinging roof tiles aside and hit home. Surprisingly though, the Scizor survived the enormous attack and came in like a jet, tearing through the Reflect shields with Metal Claw. Hypno came back with Pound. Scizor sprang into the air with a flap of its wings. Hypnosis was launched, forcing a closure in Scizor's eyes to avoid the attack. At that moment, another powerful Psychic was launched though Scizor managed to save itself with Double Team. Azain calmly ordered Hypno to psybeam and swing around with it, causing everyone to duck. However, the real Scizor was in the air. Mind used Swift, the glowing stars flew out but were brushed aside by Scizor's armor. Scizor came in like a jet and with a single Steel Wing, ended the fight. Azain screamed as the psychic link of decades was suddenly broken as Mind flew over the edge of the palace. The crowd watching quickly went out to deal with more incoming palacial defense staff and the defeated Azain with dismay, the better part of their pride lost. Joseph looked at the Lone Master, turned and then looked again. He was gone but a knife landed on the pillar beside him. He'd be back. He'd return again and again until every Pokemon Master had been killed or defeated. Then, he'd be a Legend.

   [1]: mailto:maloncanth@hotmail.com



	2. Part II: Ambush

****

Legends

Part II: Ambush

__

By Denning Chow

[maloncanth@hotmail.com][1]

OOC: Okay, the txt file just doesn't seem to look pretty enough I think, so I'm gonna try html this time and see how that goes. This is another semi-disjointed chapter but chapter 3 will start tying it all together into an understandable plot. This chapter will seem like a totally different fic but it's not, just introducing more and more of the huge cast.

__

~ "Compassion and understanding are of paramount importance in one's climb to greatness. Never forget the strength of the mind in companionship and love are as vital ingredients as hard work..." – Excerpt from Doctrine, Talamis Rai Training Clan (circa 895 AD) ~

*** Part II: Ambush ***

A certain set of doors within a large complex deep within the primeval and serene Viridian Forest were quickly torn into four separate pieces as a Scizor's claws tore them up, their hinges jammed with rust caused by some pokemon or other's acid attack. The Citadel of Albrook was in quite a mess. It had suffered an enormous attack it seemed and one of its primary leaders, Kleym, the man with the Scizor, had apparently returned from training on the Indigo Plateau far too late to salvage the situation. Normally, Albrook was a tightly guarded complex. The walls rivaled Saffron's in height and breadth and in additional to multitudes of loyal trainers, skilled in the Talamis Rai training doctrine, the training clan had a fair number of especially powerful arch-trainers, many of whom had residence in here. 

Talamis Rai of course, was not a popular clan among the many which dotted Johto and Kanto. Their doctrine did not emphasize training but individual happiness and compassion for the pokemon as a primary objective. While these are rightly acknowledged as good things, the TR took them to the extreme. The theft, rape and even murder that occurred regularly within their ranks were crimes that most other clans wanted stopped and complete dismantling of TR was considered necessary. In short, TR was a hated cult that everyone wanted removed. The heavy "protection fee" exacted from non clan members living within their territory was a detail noted against them as well despite it being every other clan's practice too. 

Nevertheless Talamis Rai was a powerful presence, exclusively holding Indigo Plateau, the Mecca of pokemon training, Mount Moon, Pallet Peninsula and most of the Viridian area as well, until now anyway. With Albrook destroyed, TR's hold on Viridian forest and surrounding district was effectively shattered and the mighty clan cut off into three separate chunks. Now, all that remained to do was to find out why and how. The literally overnight destruction of a major base of any clan didn't happen everyday. Clearly, some amount of treason was involved. The enemy, apparently forces from a number of different clans put together showed great organization, especially in the time selected when all of the major trainers were not present to help hold the place together. 

Kleym cut his way into another room and stopped in shock. Where every other place had scattered corpses of both men and pokemon, this room was stacked thick with the dead. The final battle for survival must have occurred here. He noted with pride that there were far more enemy corpses than those of his own clan. They had fought to the last and to the death.

Blade, his Scizor gave a sound of suspicion. He obviously thought something was not right. The hair on Kleym's back rose on end. Something was definitely not right. Danger was near, according to the sense honed from being a member of a cult for almost his entire life. There were also too many enemy bodies on the floor to be right. Not enough drying blood to match them. Besides, he knew his clan's strength, even a desperate situation could not have caused this mismatch…

Without warning, or rather to Kleym and Blade, far too much already, handfuls of the supposedly dead bodies popped up and attacked with their various pokemon. In the half second or so since Blade had sounded suspicion, the two had gotten full and ready for combat and as anyone in the military might say, the best way to deal with a sprung ambush is to run straight into it. 

A fraction of a second later, there were far more Kleyms and Blades in the large central chamber of the citadel than there were enemy trainers. Their foes reacted rather confusedly to this startling double team attack which no only produced more copies than any Scizor should even hope to create in a single go but somehow included its master as well, negating the possibility of easily dispatching the trainer half of the team. The would-be assassins launched attacks in every which direction, thunderbolts and ice beams going off and going right through the various images. One ice beam hit dead home but the image didn't disappear. The cold energy dissipated as it hit colder steel and the providing (and confused) Poliwhirl received a quick attack, knocking it instantly across the chamber and out the window into open air for a long fall. The quick attack continued, the Scizor a red streak leaving behind knocked out pokemon, humans and even redder blood. Kleym drew his sword and whirled through the crowd still fighting the images and hew down several trainers in a single whirling run. 

One Heracross using endure stopped the blur into the recognizable form of a Scizor but the Bug/Fighter was quickly beaten at its own game of tossing and chucked out the window along with its trainer. A Pinsir grabbed one of Blade's claws but the other one came around with crushing force and reduced the offender to two large chunks. Two thunderbolts came from somewhere in the quickly thinning crowd but those were dodged with a simple flight into the air. The pokemon, red from both the coloration of its steel armor and the blood of its victims, spread both claws wide. The room, dark from the relatively few windows glowed with an eerie orange light as glowing particles of energy gathered in the pincers. Blade spun in the air, its trainer standing atop it, holding on as twin hyper beams fired from the arms, wide swaths of blinding light, engulfing trainer, corpses and pokemon alike, reducing them to charred hulks. The room began collapsing as it was suddenly devoid of stables walls or pillars. The red tornado drilled out of the roof and floated above the collapsing central keep of Albrook Citadel. The glittering dust settled down from the massive attack as Blade quickly recharged from the last several seconds worth of energy use.

There was several moments of lull before instinct and honed danger-sense compelled the two into a steep climb. The rubble below them was suddenly and violently lit by an aura of blue flame from two simultaneous and very high leveled dragon breath attacks. The two assailants appeared, two highly skilled dragon trainers from the Cerulean Sphere, another powerful training group among the many at TR's throat with many powerful dragoners in their upper circle. These two were the real thing in the now obvious plan to assassinate him and remove the strongest master from Talamis Rai. The fact that they were sent despite dragon weakness to steel made it obvious they were no joke.

"Prepare yourself!"

The first one cried mockingly as he flew in atop his Gyarados. Obviously, a Gyarados doesn't really fly but it had no trouble moving on land and it could jump alright. Blade dodged the body slam, the hard fins of the gyarados causing a screech in passing and a blemish on the red insect's armor. 

"Getting ahead of yourself there." Kleym returned calmly.

As the Gyarados roared back in the air for another pass, Blade countered with Wing Attack. The Gyarados smoothly altered its passage, going under the attack and getting ready to bring its tail up to attack the bug. If that had really been a Wing Attack, it would have been a perfect counter but then, Kleym was famous as well for his mid-attack flexibility. Even without his trainer's instructions, Blade knew well enough to flip and turn his attack into Razor Wind, sending shards of steel tearing into the water dragon's scales. Blade came to a hover with Kleym standing atop his wing sheaths high above the smoldering citadel.

"Take this, and more for the many you and your clan have murdered!" The second assailant, a young woman on a Charizard yelled out.

Kleym's eyebrow rose in amusement. These two were either extremely loyal to their clan or more likely, were in the influence of its propaganda. Blade dodged the flamethrower easily and brought both claws around for a vicious metal claw to the wings, sending the fire dragon into a spiral towards the ground. It recovered remarkably well and fired a fireblast. Blade dodged a hydropump from above as the Gyarados joined the attack and went into an insane stoop dive, spinning in a swords dance and wrapping its butterfly wings around itself as it closed with the ground. Those wings spread right at ground level and flew straight at the low flying Charizard, hitting with a devastating double edge, tossing the Charizard aside.

"Murdered? No no, we don't murder, here in Talamis Rai, we simply support the growth of trainers through their individual happiness and their and their pokemon's compassion and understanding for each other. If your clan and their allies would stop trying to murder us back for a while, maybe you'd understand. Perhaps you'll even see the wisdom of our doctrine and practice it as well." He knew perfectly well they wouldn't, but keeping the enemy talking can often be an advantage.

Thunder crackled overhead as the enemy Gyarados used that attack in the cloudy sky, missing the ever maneuverable Blade by a little each time. Blade and Kleym came to rest atop an as yet untoppled spire and let lose with multiple blasts of razor wind. Lacking serious special ability, razor wind was essentially, the Scizors main form of ranged assault. The Gyarados bought it hard and slammed into the remains of the central keep, crashing through the ruined rubble. In one smooth motion with the last attack, spun into the air with a swords dance move to avoid a flamethrower which struck the pinnacle of the spire he'd just been standing on. With the central keep and this spire ruined, there were only three other exterior guard spires remaining over the complex as everything below began burning to the earth. A fireblast sped towards him from both above and below, one from the ground bound but still fighting Charizard and another from the Gyarados which had recovered among the keep's rubble. 

The two fireblasts converged and exploded in brilliant flame on top of Blade. As the smoke cleared however, it appeared that the Scizor was still plenty alive enough for fighting. The quick attack it used missed by a few meters as the Charizard struggled and twisted aside. Its one good wing flipped a number of rocks hard at him, an attempt at a last ditch rockslide. Scizor crossed its arms in a protective posture, protecting both it and its master who had landed lightly behind it. The insect was forced back several feet from the impact but was otherwise unhurt. 

Turning on the more threatening foe, Blade dashed at the now landed Gyarados and began a blindingly fast melee with it. Kleym had no need to instruct him much now. The Gyarados used body slam, the Scizor used agility, body slam misses, Gyarados gets hit with a countering fury cutter. Another body slam, another miss, more fury cutter. In a final, powerful stroke, mortally wounded the Gyarados. The man, now without his pokemon, ran for it, abandoning his partner. The eerie orange glow came again in the claw of Blade and a powerful hyperbeam engulfed Gyarados and fleeing human, giving both a swift and merciful end. 

Distant footsteps could already be heard as the sky darkened with dusk and night, the shade enhanced by an overcast sky. By now, the battle had caused enough ruckus for an army to have taken notice. Extended conflict here would be unwise. The Master and the Pokemon withdrew into the shadows, leaving the woman and her Charizard unconscious in the ashes.

   [1]: mailto:maloncanth@hotmail.com



	3. Part III: Wounds

****

Legends

Part III: Wounds

__

By Denning Chow

[maloncanth@hotmail.com][1]

__

~ "Strict and unbending discipline is the one and only route to success. Even the most vigorous training is useless unless guided by a solid plan of training. Train daily, train hard and above all, maintain self-discipline and discipline with your pokemon as you would a friend. An iron will and maintained mentality overcomes the most fantastic power." – Core philosophy of the Cerulean Sphere training circle (circa 895 AD) ~

*** Part III: Wounds***

From the exterior in the eyes of the common person, nothing at all was going on that was different from any other night in Cerulean City. The central market district was mostly closed but for the few businesses of a nature that explained their continued operation into the night such as the many taverns to service the sailors from the busy port. The populace was doing what they ordinarily did during this time and the farmers in the foothills of Mt. Moon were finishing up and heading into their dwellings from the fields that gave the city its agricultural start so long ago. In these dark ages of apathy among the royalty, the military was ill maintained and few soldiers or knights manned the walls or the guard posts maintained by the Kantian Empire in centuries past. The grandest, yet the most hidden construction in the city also stood, or rather lay, at its edge. Its area extended from the dried sewers in the outskirts of the city proper into the earth of the foothills, right against the mountain the occupants of the complex so craved from the hands of Talamis Rai, their largest rival in the known world. This was the headquarters of the Cerulean Sphere training circle.

If one could see through the top of the earth that protected the place from view, one would find it was in the shape of three concentric circles inside each other. The outer ring held all of the dozen entrances to the base. The defenses here were potent yet subtle. Hidden chambers from which to pour oil on Talamis Rai assailants, arrow slits from behind hidden panels and more than any building's fair share of portcullises. The risk of such an attack was of course, very slim. TR was not aggressive at all and was filled with the carefree and the fun-loving and the despondent seeking release and happiness, not warriors though the four (or rather, three now) citadels of the clan were incredibly strong fortresses. Besides which, no clan on the planet was foolish enough to attack such a main base regardless of defense without forming a plan that could render them useless anyway. Of course, the mere act of organizing and building measures demonstrated the group's wealth and raised the morale of those to whom it mattered. 

As one went closer to the core of the complex, the number of floors increased as did the luxury of the rooms from simple one room dwellings of the average apprentice to the large suites of the leaders. The third ring towards the inside was more of a full circle. The bottom three floors had no hole down the middle but rather, an enormous throne room. This was usually filled but was empty today. Just a floor below that, was the final story, a council chamber where today, the leaders of the various upstanding and light-side clans of the world. 

There were many omissions of course. Some clans, no matter their alignment, were too small to be considered worth including. Others were generally smaller circles and cults of the less upstanding clans. The most prominent missing figure of course, was Talamis Rai, the demonic cult of Kanto. The other was the Azalean Order from Johto…

"Sirs!"

An agitated messenger rushed into the meeting chamber and whispered something into the ears of the two men at the end of the long table. Both were richly robed in the blue of Cerulean Sphere. The one, seated in the largest chair was of course, the master of the training circle. His name was Vistarn, the dragon master and his influence was as wide as royalty. The much younger man who stood beside him was his prized student and someone who was alleged to have even more power than his master. Shesta was one of the most talented trainers ever to exist. According to praise just now, he had, at great risk to his life, infiltrated the Citadel of Albrook and had led the attack personally, just hours ago. The two men now jerked up suddenly and after a very short discussion, the younger man ran off.

---

Shesta ran quickly down the halls, his robes flowing behind him as he made his way out of the council chamber, into the grand throne room, up the spiral staircase and arrived at a door in short order. The floor was trailed with droplets of blood, testifying to the message of the courier. He was one of few people who were allowed in unannounced and the attendants made no move to stop him.

"Crysta." He said, with remarkable calm and low volume considering the obviously serious injury of the young woman being attended by a Chansey. But the pace he had made his way from the council chamber spoke of his feelings for the girl.

"Shesta." Came the reply from Crysta. She quietly dismissed the Chansey who retreated, after a hint of protest, to assist her fellow healers in patching up Nightflame. The Charizard was far worse off than her master was.

"Are you alright?" He asked with some concern. "And what happened to Sheex? I didn't catch much about him from that courier." 

"I'll be fine!" Crysta replied, putting to rest the worries of her fiance. She knew not how Shesta felt about her but they'd grown up together for so long, she treated him as a second brother. Well now, as her only brother. Her expression bittered at the thought. "Sheex is dead. And I can't say I'm extremely sorry about it. He was going to run for it when our target polished him off like cheap china."

"Dead? Well, I would've expected more of a reaction from your father. Not that I could be much more sorry than you with him gone."

Crysta smiled with another bitter expression. "He probably couldn't care less. All he ever cares about is you. His first son was a total failure and me? Like it or not, I'm just a little girl in his eyes. Just something to marry off someday for some favor or other. You'll be the successor to the clan once he finally retires." 

Shesta was silent at the thought. Both of them were people he loved, people. He could not bring himself to push blame onto either of them. Yet, it was true. Vistarn paid vastly more attention to him than to his own two biological children. He had not openly said it, but his intention of marrying Crysta off to his unofficial son had been obvious to those who cared. That was fine by him. He loved Crysta well enough but he could not bring himself to it if Crysta didn't want to…

"So…" He said, trying to restart the conversation in their moments of silence interrupted only by the pained calls of Nightflame as she was healed by Chansey. "This…target of yours..."

"He was…incredible to say the least. He didn't stand a chance to start with, I don't think either of us actually managed to land a meaningful hit on him and I don't think we could even if he stood still for a change. I'm positive both of us landed a fireblast at like the exact same time and he just blasted out of there like it was nothing."

"Kleym…Yes, I remember. He's the most powerful Pokemon Master in Talamis Rai. He achieved master ranking at something like fourteen years old with his Scyther. His talent really is incredible." Shesta stood up from his spot kneeling beside Crysta who lay in her bed. "Damn, he should never have sent anyone after him. You're an awesome trainer and for what its worth now, so was Sheex but really, Vistarn should really know who's league that guy was in and…" Shesta suddenly fell silent again. Conflicting thoughts as was often his case outside of battles. It was only inside the battles he loved that his mind truly came together.

"He's good." Crysta said, filling in the silence. "Excessively good, but I don't think for a moment he's invincible. Remember, you were fourteen too when you became a master. We'll go after him again. You can beat him I'll bet and with…"

"Not now." Shesta interjected. "If you won't think of yourself, at least think of Nightflame. She's not looking like she'll be flying anytime in the near future and you're hurt too. Even then, I don't have absolute confidence in defeating him. Remember, Imite hasn't evolved since I got into the Masters League but his Scyther certainly has. And those high ranked battles are really hard to predict. Remember the story of the twin masters who trained together all the time and when they finally did fight each other, the younger one was defeated easily. Besides, there's only so much you can do with a quadruple weakness. With both Steel and Bug against him and getting hit by two fireblasts, he should have taken damage at least. The Kleym hunting can wait at least until you're both healed at least."

"Well…alright, we'll wait and do some recuperation first. Besides which, if he's really hurt, he'll be actively hiding and that can make him real hard to find." With some reluctance, Crysta agreed to await her and her pokemon's recovery.

---

Shesta's predictions on Kleym and Blade's condition turned out to be all too true. Gasping in pain, the red bug and its trainer stopped their increasingly labored tread through the forest. A single mistake was all it took to become heavily damaged from an elementally disadvantaged fight. Kleym leaned against a tree and with effort, unclipped the sigil that held his cloak together. The heavy cloth fell away and it became apparent in the swiftly rising moon that it was in charred tatters. The skin on the man's torso was heavily burned from the fireblast attack. He had lasted long enough to finish the battle only through plain stubbornness of determination. 

As luck would have it, there was a clump of Oddherbs growing within arm's reach. The stuff grew mostly around where its namesake, the Oddish roamed about as it was a limited symbiote of the poisonous mushrooms that grow from the Oddish's various spore and powder attacks. When in season, the stuff was applied as an anti-infection agent. Right now, was the opposite time of year and the leaves were still new. Ignoring that fact, Kleym chewed the extremely bitter leaves and rubbed some on. 

"Aaghh…" He cried softly in pain. The stuff would work, but he was going to suffer for it. He got up and tried to keep walking. Losing sight of everything in his mind. Blade attempted to push on as well. Despite his attempts to hide it, the Scizor was in great pain as its armor had heated and cooled rapidly, cauterizing flesh within and causing a great mess within. Blade was also severely burned. Yet, the two pressed on in the moonlit darkness of Viridian Forest.

As time wore on, the two became more and more exhausted. The moon was near its zenith when Blade gave a call to its master. A house or building of some sort. Lights were on inside. Kleym's vision wavered from the chill, the pain and the exhaustion. He collapsed as figures from within moved in.

---

One of the most regular attendees of the worldwide Master's meeting was long noticed missing in the proceedings. Now, the entity had arrived but not within the expected person. Indeed, the presentation seemed to cause unease even in the one who cried it.

"First Disciple Joseph of the Azalean Order!" The herald announced with the usual perfect tone but more than a hint of confusion apparent on his expression. The entire room hushed and there were murmurs as this announcement sank in. The host was the first to gather himself.

"Well met, First Disciple." Vistarn addressed in appropriate title. He paused. "May I inquire where Master Azain is and why has he not arrived in person?" The question was echoed in less volume among the crowd.

"Master Azain remains seriously injured and could not arrive." Joseph replied coldly. They sure as hell knew why he hadn't come.

"Injured? Seriously?" He was keeping his act up alright. Nevermind the fact he'd been right there rooting for Azain until he and his pokemon were defeated and tossed right over the roof. Now of course, he had little use of him anymore. All he had to do was keep up impression. Joseph said nothing but nodded assent. 

One of the other, more graceful of those in the chamber motioned to an empty chair. 

"A seat?" The wiry old man asked politely. Joseph accepted and prepared to wait out the rest of the ceremony.

"The Lone Master of Blackthorne, as you may have heard, defeated the champion of Southern Johto, Master Azain just days ago as many of you have no doubt heard. Khyron has disappeared for the time being but we are certain that his challenge will extend here, into Kanto." Vistarn was moving on with his speeches now. At this point, the young man who had left before now returned. Joseph of course, had missed the part where he was here before. "Ah, you see before you, the champion that has been chosen from among us to do battle with this fiend."

__

Arbitrarily chosen for such an important task? Joseph though. _At least Master Azain was ELECTED as champion. Figures…_

"Most of you no doubt know him already but for those that don't, this is my first disciple, Shesta. If there are any among us who doubt his great skill and integrity among us, let him stand now. Know allies, that should the fiend challenge Kanto, our integrity is in his capable hands and it is he who well enter the field of battle in our stead"

The man was in his mid-twenties or so. Same age as Joseph himself. He stepped up and bowed for the crowd. "It's a pleasure, fellow masters." His face however, remained expressionless. 

"And now." Vistarn began again, to regain he silence in which he had spoken. "I have an announcement of great cheer to make."

__

Here it comes. Joseph thought. He was fairly familiar with the politics of the high ranking. Most likely, everyone in the room knew already as well. This was for ceremonial purposes. The dragon master of CS had neatly sent his own student out (at no risk of himself) to gain him a great deal of fame and then turn him around to marry his daughter to. So in future, two things to brag of. His clan produced the one who succeeded where the great Azain failed and the man who succeeded where the great Azain failed was his son-in-law. _Neat, riskless._ He thought.

"Pending his conquest of the Lone Master, Shesta is due to be wed to my own daughter, Crysta." The dragon master announced with a great deal of pride. There was applause and cheering throughout the room.

Joseph resigned himself thereafter to listen to various inane talk of clan politics, enemies and the movements against the Talamis Rai. The horrendous defeat of a small army of trainers and the loss of one and the severe injury of another ace to a single man from TR was of course, not mentioned.

---

OOC: Okay, so this sorta ties the various plotlines I started together. Reviews quite welcome and wanted as well. I don't consider myself an extremely good writer, I still lack that spark to create a second Pokemon Masters but heck, maybe I'll get there if I can get the help of some brutal critics.

__

…Kleym is powerful but what is his fate within this mysterious place secreted in the Viridian Forest. Crysta and Nightflame heal and together with her betrothed, they set out to assassinate Kleym. Can the Scizor trainer withstand their combined barrage of fire? Khyron is restless as well, as he issues a challenge to the Orange Islands. With Shesta uneligible for this fight, the Lone Master is met by a secret within the Azure sea. Meanwhile, Joseph attends to his master in his final days and receives the fruit of Azain's decades of study. Next time in Legends Part IV: Tides…

   [1]: mailto:maloncanth@hotmail.com



	4. Part IV: Tides

****

Legends

Part IV: Tides

__

By Denning Chow

[maloncanth@hotmail.com][1]

Disclaimer: For what it's worth, I don't own pokemon. I own the fic though.

OOC: Okay thanks for the reviews (the entire grand total of seven of them =P) and sorry for the big hurkin' delay. A few of you attached reviews to the end of my last fics and a couple of you mailed me. Thanks, many thanks. Hopefully, this chapter has improved from the last and brought me closer to the level I wish to achieve. (Pokemon Masters level, I know the hope is faint but it's there if you look through Hubble and magnify it a few zillion times.) To answer some of the questions collected from the reviews. The writing of this story was sparked by Pokemon Masters. It's damn good, I want to be that damn good and I'm fairly determined to get there. The style of the story (surreal/darkish) is such because I simply like darkish/surreal more than any other anime fic style, especially for stuff like digimon and pokemon that have so much unrealized potential. Someone asked about the fighting style. No, it really doesn't sound like a classical pokemon battle descriptions now that you mention it. I believe when I was writing it, it was sort of a cross between DBZ, Gundam Wing and a hint of chinese movie swordplay. =P The plot though, is original. This is not my first fic. I've written some other universes, was in a few digimon interactive fics and wrote a huge amount of Starfox universe. However, this is my first serious pokemon fic. Anyhow, I've tried to address a lot of the concerns from various reviews. I'll try to extend the description of the setting introduce characters better and do some extra development for the ones already in here. And more dialogue as well hopefully. That may take practice though, dialogues are a weak spot of mine. Anyhoo, on to my usual training philosophy intro and story…

__

~ "The power of Pokemon lies in knowledge and within knowledge, everything can be reduced to numbers and mathematics. It is important to know what your Pokemon can or cannot do. With knowledge at your side, the outcome of any battle can be predicted. The art of destiny prognostication through cause and effect translated to mathematics and statistics is the answer to all problems." – Clan charter of The Azure (circa 895 AD) ~

*** Part IV: Tides ***

The world to him was simply a plane of darkness and it had been so for the past uncounted days. Physical unconsciousness did not bring Kleym's bodily functions to a halt. Nor did it, to the functions of his mind. His state brought on dreams in that dark landscape of his mind. Dreams of the past that he could only barely recognized. Sometimes, they brought on slight physical movement. Fluttering eyes, twitching fingers. However, the grip of injury and a few drugs applied him as he rested and healed always prevented full surfacing into awareness again. This time however he was coming far closer to his mind's goal than he had since he had fallen.

A dream ended as unclearly as it had begun. Dark eyes opened and the Pokemon Master awoke. 

"Huh?"

Kleym remembered nothing of it but took stock of his surroundings immediately. He was on a bed in a small room. The base of the room and the floor were stone. Just about everything else was made of wood. The walls were of interlaced logs, roughly cut and the resulting surface polished as best as it would. Cleaned regularly too as the few cracks between the pieces held no apparent insectoid inhabitants. The roof was similarly done except with flat boards for the very good reason that someone probably had to walk around on the floor above without tearing a foot to shreds. The only window was a framework of wood with no glass but a paperish substance covering it as a substitute. The door was also made of wood with a simple wooden bolt which was not in place. The only other things in the room were a small stove with glowing embers within for warmth, a small table and a chair upon which were his black cloak and shirt. Both of them had been heavily burned but apparently, some black cloth had been used to patch them up, almost seamlessly at that. The front medallion was visible from where he lay, the familiar sigil of his guild finely carved into it. If his host was someone that mattered in the grand scheme of things, he or she would already know where he was from if not who exactly he was. His small travelling pack and surprisingly enough, his sword were there as well, sitting on the table. Blade was not here.

Cautiously, he rose to a sitting position and discovered bandages around the burn he had received however long ago it was. Taking a look underneath, he discovered himself mostly healed, lengthening the time his stay must have taken. In any case, if he was ready to move a few days back, he was definitely ready now. He was being hunted and staying in a place like this, he may as well be a rodent in broad daylight. First however, he wanted to meet his hosts. Now that he thought of it, he vaguely remembered several shapes moving in as he toppled.

Getting up fully, he tested his ability to walk. After a few seconds of lightheadedness, he had regained balance. He did not remove the bandages just yet but put on the familiar clothes over them as he would any normal morning that he might wake and grabbed his pack as well, forcing himself not to panic without Blade beside him. His strongest point as a Pokemon Master of course, was the deadly team he and Blade made. However, even when separated, he wasn't totally defenseless. Kleym fastened his sword belt around him and drew his sword. Once he was satisfied it had not been tampered with, he replaced in his sheath and opened the door.

The hallway he stepped went pretty far in either direction. Two rooms on the left side like his before ending with a flight of stairs which turned a right angle to the left almost immediately, rising to the top floor. The stairs there were dark but the rest of the hall was well lighted by the large, open windows that lined the other side of the hall and presumably by the unlit lamps that lined the walls. Through the windows, he could see the bare trees of the Viridian Forest in late winter. The climate here was warm so the air wasn't excessively cold, just chill and no snow littered the ground. The trees only leafed in the warmer, wetter seasons but most of the underbrush continued to grow year round. The other end of the hall led to a few more rooms, all with closed doors like those on the opposite end and then turning the corner. 

Deciding to leave the second floor alone for now, he walked with his usual almost inaudible tread down the stone floor and stepped around the corner. This appeared to be another stretch of the building he was in. Rooms again lined one side of the hallway. These were slightly larger but one of the doors was left slightly ajar and it was apparent that bunks were within. Quarters for the lower class of this area's inhabitants. As he cleared this stretch, he arrived at a set of wooden doors, slightly ajar and entered a larger room with a counter at one side, a large fireplace and several long wooden tables lined with simple chairs. The mess hall of whatever establishment he was in. Its windows were small and lined the top of the room's sides on three walls, the final one being the one which led to the kitchen and the quarters. Another set of doors opposite the ones he had entered in were closed but the wooden bar was not in place. He stepped up and pushed them open to enter the yard.

---

The moment the foreign man awoke, one of the students' Venonat had already informed its trainer who promptly informed him of this news. He had expected him to wake tomorrow, around the early morning hours but obviously, this man had some heightened resistance to sleep spore. That and his companion found with him as he stumbled blindly through the forest that night as well as the all too recognizable sigil of TR on his medallion proved he was no simple man. His students knew little of the outside world, certainly nothing of any training guilds or circles. Devoted to their studies here, the orphans here only received news when the occasional traveler happened by and needed a place to stay the night. He on contrast, knew everything that his students did not. He knew all too much of the events of this world but he loathed to reveal that to anyone. The old man had had enough of the fighting. 

Those native here knew little else and ignorance was their bliss. Boredom was not a problem for those who knew nothing else. Certainly games were played often after classes were done. With both boys and girls residing here, the occasional prank was hard to prevent too. He also had no doubt some of the older ones had slept with each other before. This was of course, supposed to be against the rules but as time wore on and the original students grew into their late teens, he could not bring himself to stop them. Now was a time where he was worrying of how to let them go as they aged some more.

Now, there was another problem. His students were human beings. And humanity had a sad truth, a craving for violence. Their new guest brought his companion with him. The Scizor was a thing of beauty but carried with it, a vile of taint and ugliness as well. Perhaps half the inhabitants here had pokemon companions. This was an encouraged thing, humanity was meant to live with these mysterious creatures. However, the pokemon here ranged from Venonat to Parasect. Each of them had unique abilities from Venonat's radar eyes to spot termites and vermin to Parasect's medicinal properties. 

The Scizor was different. It was a purebred warrior. It had no value in medicine. Its sole purpose was destruction and death and it did so with shocking efficiency. It had awaken within two hours of its collapse and if it were not his sense to accommodate it with its master, it might have torn the place down in blind rage. As it was, it was confused enough to lash out when it awoke. It brushed off the student's pokemon's weaker sleep powders until Laura arrived and her Parasect's much stronger spores were able to affect it. Even then, its resistance was so strong that it was only enough to calm it down enough to realize its master was safe and not dead. It was a topic talked of for the rest of the night and he no idea what seeing pokemon battle for real might do to his students. Undoubtedly, many would grow weary of this place. They would have knowledge of something that seemed so much more exciting than simple study in medicine.

The next morning, the Scizor had left the room and building by itself and there it was in the woods, practicing its art. Its deadly, killing art. It whizzed through the forest in fighters steps and flight-paths. It was obvious that it was trained to an extremely high level. The Scizor could hardly be followed by the eye and the sound it made has it blazed among the dry canopy branches invoked awe from those who watched after their set of classes or studies. By night, it would retreat soundlessly into its master's room and sleep a light sleep. As soon as anyone so much as opened the door a crack, whichever eye was turned towards the door would open. This obviously caused a fair amount of unease to anyone at the door since they had probably witnessed the thing destroy several fully grown oaks a few hours before so after the first night, no one but those responsible for changing the stranger's bandages approached the door.

Thus it had gone for many days…

Master Alaind heard a sound behind him and turned around. The man had recovered and was standing behind him.

"Hmmm? Ah! You have awoken, sir. Are you feeling well?"

"I'm…fine…" The man began. Obviously, getting seriously injured and then getting found and nursed back to health by someone he did not know was not something that happened to him before and he was unsure of what to do now.

"You were badly burned when we found you at our entrance. And only semi-conscious, so you may not remember it. Your Scizor is in the woods." Alaind turned towards the woods only to see a streak fly down. Apparently, the two were in better communication than he thought because the man had made no apparent move to recall his partner. Though the two had not been communication for probably longer than they had been since they first started battling together. "My, your Scizor is well trained." He commented, turning back.

The man's caution returned after some brief joy in reunion with his friend. "How long have I been in this place?"

Alaind tilted his head in thought. "Hmmm, I'd say around two weeks now. And my name is Alaind.

"I see…" The man did not offer his own name to those who had rescued him and healed him. In fact though, Kleym sensed what the old man in the robes desperately wanted. His involvement in the outside world had caused enough trouble.

"Teacher, teacher!" One of Alaind's younger students came running up.

The young ones were something he had experience dealing with. His straight face turned into a smile as he turned to face his student. Alaind turned back from a mysterious man, hiding from his violent past into the sweet old man he had been for the past decade. 

"Yes, Toma. What is it?"

"Two grownups at the front gate want in. They say they want to see you!"

That was odd. Alaind thought. He didn't have many visitors out here and the peddlers usually came alone. But when he turned back to his guest, the man and the Scizor were both gone.

"Stay here." He ordered, his face going straight again. Alaind strode down the dirt path to the front entrance. The student holding the door stood aside from the wooden gate as he arrived. The trees rustled softly in the breeze. The birds were all gone. Two figures stood at the entrance and a large Charizard towered over the wooden fence. The two were apparently men, dressed in blue robes, hat and veil concealing both of them. The taller of the two had a blade at his side, the other appeared unarmed.

"What can I do for you sirs?" He inquired politely and hoped they were simply here to ask for directions or something.

"You have a man and a Scizor on your premises?" It was apparent he had made a mistake as the shorter one spoke for she was a woman. Well, so much for asking directions. He tried to keep his expression the same as before as he formulated an answer.

"He was last seen in black cloak and…"

The taller one's voice trailed off as he looked behind Alaind. Alaind turned around himself and found what he'd half expected. The strange man stood behind him, leaned against the wall of the storage shed. He remembered back when he still fought, the mysterious people all had a habit of appearing like this. So much for formulating an answer. He opened his mouth in an attempt to plead at least.

"You are not welcome here." He said simply.

"Oh?" The man said. He might've been confused or he might've been amused.

"This is a place of peace, there are children here, don't involve this place. I'll fight you someplace else."

"Heh! Since when did the Talamis Rai give a damn about children?! Nightflame, flamethrower!" The charizard responded and let loose a giant stream of flame. IA strong attack./I Alaind thought as his subconscious caused him to automatically stay, watch and analyze the battle. IWith a four times weakness to fire, that Scizor's going to be knocked out at least as hard as last time./I He thought as the Scizor moved in to protect its master. Amazingly enough, the thing grabbed his trainer and got out of there as the flames struck, charring the ground. Fortunately, nothing was there to be ignited.

IFast…/I

"Listen, you keep that up, innocent people are going to get hurt! The clans have always kept the fighting around the trainers, not around normal people. And these are children here!"

"Just like you to use children as a shield!" A rather lame comeback but it worked. The Charizard dashed forward in a body slam attack. The Scizor braced itself and stopped the Charizard in its tracks.

IStrong…/I

"What?!" Now it appeared the man in black was totally frustrated with the woman. "It was you who started this! I'm the one who said not to fight here!" And meanwhile, the other man in blue had just crossed his arms and was leaning against the gate watching. From his posture, he might very well have had an amused expression on his face.

The Charizard spun with lightning speed for a devastating wing attack. There was a blur and a crash and storage shed was left in rubble, the Charizard's wing tearing into the wood. As the smoke cleared though, it was apparent the Scizor hadn't taken that hit and was high above the Charizard, coming down with both metal claws out in front. It caught the Charizard, landed on the ground and then flipped the Charizard, tossing it high. Recovering well, the Charizard hovered low in the air and attacked with flamethrower, roasting what was left of the shed and the ground around it. The Scizor dodged easily and then dodged again as the Charizard hit the turf with a mega kick. Spinning around faster than the eye could follow, the Scizor was behind the Charizard, delivering a single, mighty slash. There was the sound of smashing bone as the Charizard roared, fell and landed unconscious from one hit.

Alaind's eyes widened. That was some impressive show of power and skill. The man barely needed to give instructions to his Scizor, they could practically read each others' minds. He looked around. Many of the children and teens were outside now and watching with awe. The 

"Ahh…So you are indeed the legendary Kleym of Talamis. And I can see your reputation is well deserved. Shall we settle the second half of this battle outside?"

"And you are Shesta of Cerulean I presume. Very well." He replied, his face maintaining no expression. Here was the supposed cold hearted killer again.

The two stepped outside into the forest about a hundred paces from the wooden fence and gate. Kleym's Scizor fell into combat stance, awaiting his opponent. Shesta smiled. A Scizor dropped down from the trees above. 

IAnother Scizor trainer!/I Alaind thought at first. This was going to be interesting. Then, the old gut feeling from past pokemon battling experience came back just as his intense study of statistics had already done. Something was not right about that Scizor. He could tell Kleym though so as well but neither of them could put their finger on what it was. Was this trainer just known to be on par with the black cloaked warrior? Or was there something else that was eating at the strange man's confidence?

The two Scizor began, dashing at each other full speed. There was a resounding ring of metal on metal. The two combatants skidded to a halt. Kleym's turned around, intact. Shesta's turned around, a scar in it's right claw. This gave a pretty good idea of the relative skill levels at work. Shesta was strong but he couldn't defeat Kleym. 

The two Scizor closed in again, causing a blur in the air as their shimmering carapaces struck each other with metallic rings, slashing and parrying like sword masters. A few seconds into the fight, the black cloaked man's Scizor got the first damaging hit in. Several more seconds of melee and another hit, followed by a third immediately after. The blue robed man's Scizor stumbled back but quickly got back its balance, it had three tears in its armor.

"Impressive…but watch this."

The two Scizor went at it again. Within seconds, Kleym's fighter was in position to land a blow to his opponent's head. 

"Imite!" 

IWhat the hell?!/I

The Scizor's head turned into a Charizard's and blew out a massive flamethrower. The normal Scizor dodged just in time to avoid getting a serious melt in its steel carapace. The melee continued as the transforming Scizor pursued a short distance. The Scizor made a kick, turning it into a Hitmonlee's foot in midair, landing a solid hit to the Scizor. Doubly weak against a fighting move, the Scizor flew backwards, stopping as it crashed into the underbrush. The Scizor seemed to melt in place and slowly reformed into the blob of a Ditto.

"When I was little, I couldn't decide which pokemon to catch and train. Then, I found Imite." Shesta said, smiling. "You lose this round, Kleym of Talamis."

Kleym smiled back. "Not quite yet. Blade!"

The Scizor responded instantly and was quickly at its master's side. "Double Team."

Naturally, Blade responded and double teamed, projecting two dozen images of itself all around Shesta's Ditto. 

"Do what you want, it won't help you. Imite, transform…"

---

Khyron's ship bobbed slightly in the misty early morning waters in the Orange Islands. Few other passengers talked to him though many looked on him when they thought he wasn't looking right back. The others talked around him when he was present, talked about him behind his back. He was a foreigner after all. In clothes know one knew the origin of and with a strange look about his eyes.

The ship drifted on silently. The fog was thickening. This was expected. Khyron smiled slightly as his vessel neared the island it was headed for. An unfortunate sacrifice but this vessel likely would not make it with too many people alive on it. He had to be tested before entering the Orange Islands to challenge whomever they had chosen as champion. The Azure, they had called themselves.

The vessel creaked and heaved as if from a slow but powerful wave. That was the cue. They were here. His Scizor, Red Comet, was immediately at his side. Ready for battle. With an almost casual, sidelong claw, he formed a hyperbeam and fired. The shot seared through the structure of the wooden carrack and hit a Starmie carrying its trainer. It was not heard from again. Three more leapt onto the deck from the water. The three Starmies and their trainers circled him cautiously. He spared little apparent attention to them, waiting calmly at the middle. His eyes barely following his trio of assailants. As the first one was behind him, the trainer struck. Exactly as Khyron knew she would. In a movement quicker than the eye could follow, the Starmie had slashed forward with Rapid Spin. The spinning saw was struck asunder easily by the Scizor. It fell to the ground, dead. The other two opened fire, or water rather with rapid-fire water gun strikes and did a grant total of poop to the Scizor except shove it back slightly. Those two offenders were finished with two quick attacks which put new meanings into the first word of their name.

Looking around, Khyron saw the carrack was no longer in any condition to keep going. A lone Scizor lifted off the wooden wreck and flew on towards the island it was headed for.

   [1]: mailto:maloncanth@hotmail.com



End file.
